I'm not surprised. She grew and things were never quite as easy afterward. Rockne is just a little too short for a male pair skater. I hope if he finds a new partner, it is one who has finished growing, and is very petite. Do any of you remember Mariel Miller?
http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00007639.htm
Well, she grew, too.
Mariel Miller towers over McLaughlin and Mariel/Rockne often struggled with lifts and did not have a decent triple twist even as Juniors. Keauna was much better suited for Rockne not only in terms of the technical content, but in terms of matching body lines, presentation, etc. Most girls will struggle with timing and what not during puberty, but I think the most important thing is avoiding a growth spurt where you sprout up in height, and Keauna has stayed pretty short. From the article that Silvia has posted, it does not sound like Rockne wanted this split at all. I hope Keauna has thought long and hard about this one and continues to do so. You do not get an opportunity to skate at this level very often... If she is "burnt out", a sports psychologist (or a new one) could help. I also question how motivated John Nicks may have been coaching a young team at the beginning of an Olympic cycle. It is partly the coach's job to keep his athletes mentally focused and inspired. There are a lot of coaches to consider in Southern California if a coaching change could have possibly helped. I thought this being a non-Olympic year would have been enough to settle the nerves quite a bit.
Wow, I don't keep up with these splits but this one got me.
I hope they did not take their Olympic defeat too hard.
It seems like Keauna did take it too hard. I don't think you could question her love for skating beforehand. She has mentioned wanting to have a professional career in skating, she has written on the USOC website as recently as January that skating was her "life passion" and that she had the "greatest skating partner in the world". That all doesn't change in a couple months, and I assume it wouldn't had they gone to the Olympics. It's a huge shame if she put all the eggs in the Olympic basket, she was too young to do that, and I hope that she has spoken to someone that can help her feel better about this.
it took Jeremy Barrett a long while to finally find the right partner. Rockne is already a superstar so it should be easier for him to have his pick of the crop.
I'm sure it's a lot harder than you think. Barrett is also short for a pair guy and I believe never found a good partner once Denney left him in 2006 to pursue a singles career. It wasn't until mid-2008 that Barrett was reunited with Denney. You could probably find some Junior level pair girls who are still around 5'0", but what good does that do if they are going to grow before they are even old enough to skate Seniors? A 5'8" guy really cannot skate with anyone much more than 5'0", at least not anywhere near as successfully as he would want. And a 5 ft 16+ year old (nevermind a good pair girl) doesn't grow on trees. I wish Rockne the best of luck, but it's sad that it has come to this.